, with their deep ranks and long
pikes, moved on unbroken by the assault, while Navarro opened with a
battery of heavy guns on the flank of the enemy.

Thrown into disorder by the deadly volleys, the Moors began to give
ground, and, pressed upon heavily by the Spanish spearsmen, soon broke
into flight. The Spaniards hotly pursued, breaking rank in their eagerness
in a way that might have proved fatal but for the panic of the Moors, who
had lost all sense of discipline. The hill-top was reached, and down its
opposite slope poured the Spaniards, driving the fleeing Moors. Not far
before them rose the walls of Oran. The fleet had anchored before the city
and was vigorously cannonading it, being answered with equal spirit by
sixty pieces of artillery on the fortifications. Such were the excitement
and enthusiasm of the soldiers that they forgot weariness and disregarded
obstacles. In swift pursuit they followed the scattering Moors, and in a
brief time were close to the walls, defended by a deeply discouraged
garrison.

The Spaniards had brought few ladders, but in the intense excitement and
energy of the moment no obstacle deterred them. Planting their long pikes
against the walls, or thrusting them into the crevices between the stones,
they clambered up with remarkable dexterity,--a feat which they were
utterly unable to repeat the next day, when they tried it in cold blood.

A weak defence was made, and the ramparts soon swarmed with Spanish
soldiers. Sousa, the captain of the cardinal's guard, was the first to
gain the summit, where he unfurled the banner of Ximenes,--the cross on one
side and the cardinal's arms on the other. Six other banners soon floated
from the walls, and the soldiers, leaping down into the streets, gained
and threw open the gates. In streamed the army, sweeping all opposition
before it. Resistance and flight were alike unavailing. Houses and mosques
were tumultuously entered, no mercy being shown, no regard for age or sex,
the soldiers abandoning themselves to the brutal license and ferocity
common to the wars of that epoch.

In vain Navarro sought to check his brutal troops; they were beyond
control; the butchery never ceased until, gorged with the food and wine
found in the houses, the worn-out soldiers flung themselves down in the
streets and squares to sleep. Four thousand Moors had been slain in the
brief assault, and perhaps twice that number were taken prisoners. The
city of Oran, that m